After spending a lot of time answering the same questions over and over again I thought I'd take some time to put together a comprehensive tutorial on various features and functions the Minecraft Forums (and IPB in general) offer. I have tried to cover as much information as possible, but there will always be things that I miss, things that I am wrong about or things that I haven't made clear enough. Please don't hesitate to post here with ideas on content to add, constructive criticism, corrections to content or to even ask questions.

Each section has two sets of tutorials: a video tutorial and a text/image based tutorial. Both contain the same material, I just wanted to cover all the bases as some people prefer one over the other.

Upcoming tutorials:

Editor

Goto and Anchor

Using the Search

Changing Forum Display Name

Reporting Content

Without further ado...

Profile Customization

Text tutorial:

Customizing your Avatar:

You have several options on where to change your avatar. The first is in your profile by clicking the "change" link that is overlaid on your avatar like so:

Your next option is via the toolbar in the upper right hand corner like so:

Once you click either one of these options you will be presented with the Avatar Editing dashboard. Here you can upload an image from your local machine, a URL or use a Gravatar. Your avatar should be no larger then 150x150 and have a file size of less then 50kb. Unless you upload the image as a .gif, the forum will resize the photo to 100x100 for display. Once you are finished uploading your avatar you can select the "Done" button.

Changing Contact Info and General Site Settings

Hover your mouse over the gear icon in the upper right hand corner of the forum and select "Site Settings"

On the left hand side of the Site Settings page you should see a menu like this:

Select "Signature" and you will be brought to the Signature Editor page. Here you can create a sig or edit an existing one. Please make sure you pay attention to the restrictions.

Creating and Editing Threads

Text tutorial:

Go to the section you want to create your thread in. Please make sure it is in the correct section. Several of the Forum sections have rules against posting certain kinds of threads and it would be a shame if your received a forum warning because you weren't paying attention. Once you are in the section you want to post your thread in, select the "Start New Topic" button found on the right hand side of the forum.
This will bring up the Thread editor. Fill in the Topic Title and the Topic body with whatever information or questions you want to ask. You can use tags if you want, but they are optional

If you made a mistake when creating the thread and you want to edit what you wrote, you just need to click the "Edit" link found at the bottom of every post. If you want to edit the title of your thread and/or add/edit a poll, then you need to click the "Edit" link and then the "Use Full Editor" Button

To add or edit a poll, just click the "Manage Topic Poll" link either when creating your thread or when using the Full Editor

Your avatar needs to be no larger then 300x200 and have a file size of less then 50kb. If the forum has to resize your animated gif, it will lose it's animation

How do I change my forum display name?

Make a thread in the Contact the Forum Admins section. Threads in this section are private between you and the admins (which is why you will only see your own threads). Generally speaking you only get one name change so make sure it's one you like

How come no one has responded to my Moderator application?

Patience, most apps get a reply within 1-2 months.

What's with this video/sound ad? Why am I seeing adult ads on a game site that has children on it?

These types of ads are not allowed but they do slip through sometimes. Please contact citricsquid with as much information about the ad as possible. Things like: where on the site you saw the ad, your physical location, the url of the ad (right click and select "copy image URL"), a screenshot of the ad, etc

Ending Words

This is still very much a work in progress, so there are still a lot of subjects I want to cover. Like I stated in the Intro, please don't hesitate to ask questions and make suggestions/critiques on the content shown

This has helped me tremendously. It is amazing to see these kind of staff members making a difference in the community, just by taking a little time to create a well-thought out forum post that explains basic concepts that might not come to you at first.